Florida divorce law requires that permanent periodic alimony (a fixed amount per month which lasts until one spouse dies or the receiving spouse remarries) is restricted to long term marriages. So what do you do if you have not been married for a long time? The concept of transitional alimony was created precisely to accommodate this situation.

Transitional alimony is awarded for the purpose of getting a divorcing person from married life to single life without unreasonable financial difficulties. Skilled Florida divorce attorneys have asked for and Florida divorce judges have awarded sums of money for the purpose of paying first and last month's rent on a new apartment, for making a down payment on a new house, for hiring a moving company to take furniture to a new residence or even for buying furniture to place there.

It is awarded when one spouse is better off financially than the other spouse going out of the marriage. The court will determine this by looking at both the marital and non-marital assets that each party has at the time of the divorce and also at the income each has. The court will also consider things such as the amount of sacrifice the requesting party went through to join in the marriage, such as giving up an apartment or changing jobs.

Bottom Line: Even though you may not have a marriage long enough to qualify for permanent periodic alimony and your employment is sufficient to disqualify you from rehabilitative alimony, you may want to speak to an expert divorce lawyer about being awarded money to help you go from being married to being single under the right circumstances.

(copyright Stann Givens 2009)